Former suburban mayor called vendetta victim

June 16, 2009

Former Island Lake Mayor Thomas Hyde is innocent of official misconduct and forgery and instead is the victim of a vendetta by an ex-village clerk, said Hyde's attorney in court today."We're about to descend, like Dante's Inferno, into various levels of local political hell, vindictiveness, pettiness and animosity," Hyde attorney Charles Smith said during his opening statement in Lake County Circuit Court.

Hyde is accused of illegally altering a liquor license last year for 3D Bowling Lanes & Sideouts in Island Lake.

Prosecutor Jason Grindel said during his opening statement that Hyde illegally changed the name of the liquor license holder from Jerry DeLaurentis III to his father's name, Jerry DeLaurentis Jr.

As head of the Island Lake Liquor Commission, the mayor had the authority to change the name, Smith said. Hyde notified various officials and the village attorney about the change and, contrary to the charge against him, there was no attempt to defraud anyone, he said.

Hyde made the change to allow a 50-year-old family-run business to continue operating in a crisis "manufactured" by Village Clerk Christine Kaczmarek, Smith said.

DeLaurentis Jr. had earlier notified the village that he was selling the business to his son.

DeLaurentis III applied for a new liquor license and received it, but the sale of the property never went through, meaning DeLaurentis Jr. was operating without a valid liquor license when his license expired April 30, 2008.

Hyde went to Village Hall, retrieved the new license for DeLaurentis III from the clerk's office and changed the name to the elder DeLaurentis, both attorneys agreed.

Kaczmarek knew the business wasn't sold and that Sideouts, after April 30, would have no valid liquor license but she never sent a license renewal notice, never informed the mayor and left the village for a 10-day vacation in Florida, Smith said.

"This was a manufactured crisis," Smith said. "The evidence will show the clerk was setting this up."

Kaczmarek started a "relentless" campaign against the Hyde in 2007, Smith said. She sent 134 e-mails regarding the mayor to an investigator for the Lake County state's attorney's office, plus an "enormous" number of text messages and phone calls, he said.

Grindel said Hyde's actions made a mockery of his village political party's name, "Honesty in Government."

In a separate matter, Hyde and his wife, Sharon, were charged last week by the Lake County state's attorney's office with taking part in a payroll scam involving an Island Lake preschool funded by the village. Sharon Hyde was accused of receiving about $100,000 for hours she did not work over a 10-year period.

Hyde served as mayor of Island Lake for one term, which ended in the spring.